I just got home with a 2011 LT35HD - I need your counsel on how to succeed.

[WV Sawmiller]

Grasshopper,

   I assumed you were using 1" stickers anyway. I'd bet that is what most of us use. I do because I can salvage them from the edging of 4/4 (1") boards. I also sometimes make 1"X 1" X 5' tomato stakes, often from 10' strips cut in the middle at a 45 degree angle for a point (so I get 2 stakes with each cut), and strips that break I cut into 1', 2' and 3' stickers. I sometimes salvage some 4' tomato stakes as some people like them and they sell too. I stick 1' stickers in various knee braces in my shed where they are handy and stack and sticker the others just like my lumber to air dry. You will be surprised how handy a 1' sticker is for stickering boards or slabs from a single tree, small crotch pieces, cookies, etc. If it won't make a 1' sticker it goes in the kindling bucket or the next crate full of kids toy blocks.

   Sometimes when edging 6/4 & 8/4 pieces I will edge in 1/2" drops on my SS yielding 3/8" strips like lath pieces that are handy for making small crates and such.

   It all depends on how much time I have on my hands. These may not be things you can or want to do at a customer job but when you are just piddling at home you can salvage an awful lot off a tree.

   If you have pine available it IMHO makes great stickers. Dries much faster and seems to produce less sticker stain than many hardwoods. I've read here where members cut softwood stickers and laid them on hot asphalt drives and such to dry even faster.

[MikeySP]

Southside, totally get it. The battle for brands, teams, and even bandsaw blades is one of differing experiences, opinions, and can have a thousand unknown variables. However, I know the Turbos work well for you, I respect you, and I am going to try a box. 

Just trying to decide on this week or later as I REALLY need a barn up too... and the IRS has coma callin and they have bayonets, guns, cages, and a host of tools from mount doom, the death star, and are friends of the Godfather, Don Vito Corleone himself; so, I need a CPA to help me wade through this part of the dramatic theater of life  8).

WV Sawmiller, those are some very good ideas Master Po . I originally thought, if 3/4 is good, why not make them 3/4 and get more out of a piece of lumber; however, with our area's humidity, 1" seems to be a good starting point for long term stickering/air drying with all else considered from species, orientation, ground distance, protection from above and below, and dimensions of stack.

Thanks Gents!

[scsmith42]

scsmith, I am going to saw up a BUNCH of stickers and get them air dried and ready to go as an option for the customers to purchase. Will pine work? If air drying won't do it, I can make a ragtag sticker solar kiln to really bake them. Not a big problem for perfect as they are stickers, not furniture.


-Mike

Pine works fine for stickers as long as it is dry.  In your area, SYP should air dry down to 16% in about 60 days.  Mill as wider boards, air dry, and then resaw into stickers.  Most folks go with 1-1/4" wide as that way it's hard to put the sticker in sideways.
Once dry cut your boards to 48" and then run them through a tablesaw to make the stickers.  A power feeder is a nice option.  You can also resaw them into stickers using your sawmill and stacking the boards vertically.
Kiln stickers are usually 3/4" but 1" is about optimum for air drying.

[Southside]

I stand behind using Turbos on a 35, they have served me well in pine, oak, even hickory, I still have 6 un-opened boxes of them for my 70 as well, but in the same manner that I first tried the Turbos for my 35 I am trying options for the 70 is all.

  

[WV Sawmiller]

Grasshopper,

 Put down the pebble and get to work on your shed. Warning - no matter how big you build it, it will not be big enough.

  Below is a picture or two of my pole barn I built for storing lumber and related equipment. I used Black locust poles off my property which I assume you may also have and white oak as the next option for uprights. I squared 1-3 edges on the uprights on my mill and should have squared at least 3 edges on all so I'd have flat nailing surfaces for adding knee braces and shelving to go vertical once I covered the floor space. I used my practice lumber for sheeting. It was not all pretty enough to sell but full fit for purpose. I bought a bunch of used corrugated roofing from a barn teardown in the next county for a few hundred dollars. (If the IRS demons don't leave you enough cash for buying new roofing I bet you can find similar deals in your part of the country if you keep your eyes open.) I painted the roof good with aluminum coating once it was installed. On one end I built in about a 3'X12' work bench with some bins for storing hardware and supplies. In the middle of the bench I added an RAS which is as handy as a pocket on a shirt for a sawing and lumber operation. I probably have about $500 in the total cost of material plus the "free" lumber and poles off my property and the cost of sawing from which I needed the practice anyway.


 3 Roughly 20' wide bays, 12' deep and 12'-15' high


 Shelves added later - bench legs and stickers stored here


 Shelves added between every partition with slow moving lumber, cookies, etc. All are about 3' wide and used 2X6's and plenty of knee braces.


 I extended power to the middle of the shed, built a rough table on an outside upright to use my planer and tenon cutter and general work bench - just a couple of 2X4's nailed on each side of an upright and the convenient work height, 2 simple knee braces, and scrap 1X6's for a bench top.

 Not pretty but works fine and built on a tight budget.

[MikeySP]

scsmith, I had not thought about cutting the stickers after drying. I also had not considered a power feed for a table saw. I looked one up and very nifty trick my friend. I may build one of those once I have my shop built. 

WV Sawmiller, I picked up a bunch of used metal roofing about three weeks ago for cheap. Thank you for sharing how you did it and including the photos. Questions: I know what a sticker is... what is a "bench leg"? Just what it says? Do you build benches to sell? 

also, the last picture shows a board getting clamped with a vise and setting on a beam. Does that stabilize the board while you cut the tenon with the draw knife by hand?

$500 is making it happen on a dime. Well done. I like it. I am trying to do it cheap, but my design was pre-sawmill, and is to be a shop with concrete floor and even an office that I want to move into and sell the camper and cargo trailer. Are you saying a white oak post will hold up against rot similar to a treated post? I don't know what I have around here for locust, but I have a few white oaks. Another area I need to develop tree identification and interpretation of quality skills, 

-Mike

[Southside]

Another area I need to develop tree identification and interpretation of quality skills,

If you find your way into middle Georgia at some point make plans to visit with @WDH - he took me on a quick and dirty walk while at Jakes and gave me a good foundation on tree identification, coupled with a guide a guy could do quite well.  Just don't ask him about Ash trees...:D

[WV Sawmiller]

Grasshopper,

  When you finish building and filling that pre-planned barn and realize you still need more space for your lumber you have some ideas for a cheap option.

  Yes, I make and sell primitive benches. I think the best description starts at about post 37 or there-abouts on this post:   http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=97464.msg1511661#msg1511661

  Just another option of things to do with your time and wood when people like me don't have the talents of the many finished woodworkers on this forum. Good luck.

[MikeySP]

If I make it to next years sawing project, I may look at that. There are some old timers around here that grew up with these trees and I plan to get some help once I do a little diligence on my own. 

WV Sawmiller, very nice and creative. I put this one together one evening after quitting time with a piece of left over scrap. My neighbor likes it, so I am going to make him one when I get to sawing a in a few days. 



 

I have a 10 year old strange structure of some sort that came with the land. I am going to tear it down and utilize some of the wood for my sawing shed. At least that is my tentative plan. 

[Southside]

I have a 10 year old strange structure of some sort that came with the land

You can't just throw that out there without photographs you do realize.  

[MikeySP]

I will photograph it tomorrow  :D.

BTW, how do you like our front porch... the pallets under the bench sit on the side of the camper.

[Southside]

You have pallets for a porch? We are not so fancy around these parts, we have wood chips.  :D

[YellowHammer]

My old back porch used to be our flat bed trailer.  Sometimes I'd move it so it also served as the front porch.   :D
Those were the days.  

[MikeySP]

Wow sawdust deck and portable front and back porch. I live in HICKman county, TN but you folks got some classy hillbillying there.

Alright  @Southside here are your pics. Sorry for delay. Had a small road repair job pop up yesterday. Seems like the guy had acquired a bunch of insulated garage door panels as they are a lot of vinyl panels with 2" foam in between. He shingled the whole thing. There are 24 4x4 posts inside and some 2x6 headers and 2x4s for shed roof support. I am going to tear it down and prob use the 4x4s for my sawing shed posts and use the 2x material and foam board for some upcoming projects. The garage doors do not operate, it is on the backside of the property, so I will not use it for storage. 



 

 

 

 

[MikeySP]

When shipping blades for resharp, the guy told me to use any box.  Currently all the blades that need sharpening are coiled. I do not have an extra steel clip to put them unto a flat box (like the box new blades come in). I don't mind a large box for 15-20 coiled blades, BUT, I don't want to pay a mint in shipping either. Can anyone give me a solution? Thanks. -Mike

[doc henderson]

I save the boxes the blades came in (I know that does not help you)  and I secure each blade folded in thirds with a plastic zip tie.

[MikeySP]

Thank you @doc henderson . Are you saying you send them the blades in coils like photo A or photo B? I can find or make a box for photo B, but I do not have a metal clip to make a box like A. 



 

 

[doc henderson]

I do photo A and get a box 16 inches square and a foot tall.  get about 8 blades each, 20 bucks to ship.  i have a niece i can send them with as well who lives in KC.  you make a clip I am sure, or guys like Jake with over 500 blades prob. has a bucket full he could poss ship to you.  Or check with Kasco if you are using there blades and get some clips and boxes.

[Southside]

You could un box your new bands and hang them, use the clip to return your Re-sharp bands and ask nicely for a second clip, then you will have two. 

[MikeySP]

Southside, I like that. I will coil my brand new blades for storage. Question: When they are coiled, they set one on top of another. Seems like it may be bad for tips (metal on metal). Is this an accurate concern on my part? If so, I will put them in the box, I was going to use for shipping and put cardboard between the blades to preserve them. At least until I build some storage boxes that someone ( I think WV Sawmiller) post pics of early in this thread.

I just did a little research on rake angle determination so I can distinguish between my 4 degree and 10 degree blades. Bingo. For other new guys, I will put the following pic:



 

[doc henderson]

yes, my blades come with cardboard between the bands.  you could drive a dowel into and post and hang them, if you do not have little kids running around the area.

[Southside]

Mike - insulated walls, overhead doors, man door. I see the PERFECT building for a combination chicken coop and kiln that would make @customsawyer proud!! So much simpler having both under one roof.   :D

[YellowHammer]

If you put the blades going to Resharp in any old box, no cardboard separator, they will send them back in a new 10 pack box, with cardboard, etc.  If you get on the Resharp Replacement program, if you send 9 used bands back they will fill the box with a 10th, at a slight discount.  I have a box for different angles, and have found its best not to mix hook angles or thicknesses as well as to clearly label each box with a large Sharpie.

Ask them to send you a blade template gauge, it has all the angles, gullet depth, etc but Turbos.  It is useful for identifying bands, but is invaluable if you get one that isn't cutting right, you can check its characteristic geometry against the gauge and you may find an issue, especially if you start sharpening your own.

[Magicman]

Home Depot has the cube boxes for only a couple of $$.

[trapper]

I asked and resharp sent me some extra clips when they returned my sharpened blades.